Q. Will Sundance Stain Sealers leave a SHINEY FINISH? 

 A. No, they leave a very natural deep wood finish with a vibrant wood look highlighting the wood grain with no shine or sheen.      

Click on our "Blinded by the Light" to read our blog regarding!

A. Yes, our product is made for new and old wood! If you pour a cup of water on the wood and it absorbs, it is ready to be stained. If it beads up, wait a bit longer- which can be as soon as a few months or as long as six months +. Erroring on the side of stain sealing sooner than too late will always benefit your exterior wood. It will never hurt it to be too soon. Too late, and U.V. damage, water damage via hydrolysis, cupping, and checking are probable.

A. Yes, if the proper prepping is done. That will be determined by what existing finish is on there now.
1. First, always know what's been put on it in the past and what you're putting on now!

2. Read the SDS sheets and know what's in the product!

• Cotton ball. Gather together a cotton ball and a little rubbing alcohol. Dampen the cotton ball with the alcohol and wipe it along the woodwork. If, after the alcohol has dried, the wood stain is a little lighter in color, then you know that the stain is water-based. Oil-based stains don't react to alcohol at all.
• Take and scratch hard with your fingernail. If the old finish comes up under your nail and you can see bare wood behind, it's likely oil-based. Our Sundance stain should work well if not completely removed. You will need to stick with a similar color unless all of the old finish is removed.

A.    Since SWSS are penetrating oil-based sealers, they work best the more porous the wood is. It's fabulous for first-time sealing of old and new wood. If your deck and or cedar or log home have been previously stained-sealed, the goal would be to remove the old finish as much as possible by power washing, stripping, and or sanding. Even a brand-new deck should be lightly power-washed to remove mill glaze.
Typically most sealants on the market fail after one or two years. If the previous stain-sealer was oil-based, leftover remnants of the old finish should be fine and blend in if you choose a wood tone in the same color range, *provided it didn't have linseed oil in it. In that case, sanding the entire floor is advisable if other cleaning attempts are unsuccessful, as linseed oil typically leaves sheened patchy areas. Generally, removal of the old finish on the spindles is only necessary if they have heavy discoloration or drippy runs from the old finish (typically because of linseed oil). The goal is to have a uniform natural finish.
If you have previously applied a water-based semi-transparent stain-sealer that is fading away, it should be OK to apply. However, you don't want to apply over any leftover sheened impermeable finishes from prior applications, and you should sand those areas out. Those are typically from a water-emulsified glycol ester base.

A. Prepping the wood is the most important of the steps to have a good outcome with any stain-sealer. Our product is straightforward to work with, and reapplication requires little prepping, just a good cleaning. Unfortunately, there are a lot of products on the market that are very problematic to prep to reapply on subsequent applications. *Linseed oil is one of the worst culprits and should be avoided at all costs. First, it is an organic material made from the flax plant and a fertilizer/ food for mold that will grow from under the linseed oil finish. Second, it creates a hardened, sheened finish leaving a blotchy impermeable patchy area that makes it impossible to penetrate and reapply without leaving an even worse look than before.

A. That will be determined by what was put on it before and how much is left from the prior applications. Applying a cleaner solution will be a good start but only sometimes necessary if you are skilled with using a power washer. Less is better if it works! If extremely moldy and dirty using a cleaner solution will enable you not to have to get as close, requiring less skill to remove the oxidation and mold with the P.W. Make sure any wood cleaner does not contain sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) in it, which is used for stripping and is extremely harsh on wood, often requiring sanding. A solution that contains sodium percarbonate (oxygenic bleach) and some TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) is best! Oxalic acid is used to remove tannins on cedar and redwood and is the neutralizer to correct the ph of wood after stripping a deck with sodium hydroxide. Regular bleach is a bit harsh on wood and not advised unless you have a heavy mold infestation. Use a garden pump sprayer to apply the cleaner solution first, then scrubbing it with a deck brush out of a 5-gallon buck will work well. Be sure to rinse, and rinse well all surrounding areas! If you have used our product in the past, you will not have to go past a light scrubbing and/or light power-washing at the most! Which is one of the reasons our product is so popular! After applying the cleaner solution, power washing is the most effective way to clean a deck and will get it to where it will accept our product well.

Q. What is the best technique with a power washer?
A. Care should be given never to put burn marks in the wood with a P.W. as it can damage the wood if not done with the proper technique. The goal is a sweeping level motion without stopping pushing off the dirt, mold, and, hopefully, old finish. Pending the size of the P.W. will determine how close and fast that motion is. Pay attention to what you're doing to the wood. Typically the sweet spot for cleaning is 4 to 6 inches away with a 3500 PSI or greater power washer. Using a white tip (40 degrees is best. When you P.W., keep track of where you are; when the wood is wet, it's easy to skip over areas and miss them. Like taking off and landing a plane. Keep the wand's motion going until you get to the end of the stroke, and pull up immediately. Keep the wand tip perpendicular to the wood so as not to splinter it, and keep it level as putting pressure to it.

A. Stripping your deck and or log home is doable if oil-based and problematic if water-based. However, it isn't easy and best left to a professional, as the right chemicals must be used properly. Sodium Hydroxide in most strippers is dangerous to work with, and great care must be taken to work with it. Stripping will typically negatively affect the wood, often leaving it fuzzy. Care should be taken to ensure the wood is chemicals neutralized and ends up with the correct ph. The reality is sanding is almost a given behind it, so sanding may be the preferred way to skip the stripping altogether since sanding will probably be required anyway. 

A. If the wood has some little leftover remnants of the old finish after the cleaning is correctly done, SWSS should work fine without sanding, provided it doesn't have linseed oil in it if oil-based and if it's not still shiny, if water-based. In those cases, sanding the affected areas would be best if other unsuccessful cleaning attempts and stripping are not done. Generally, sanding the spindles is only necessary if they have heavy discoloration or drippy runs from the old finish. Our product will cover many imperfections, but the better it penetrates, the better. To achieve a uniform finish, you'll want to sand any build-up, blotchy, and or opaque areas. If you elect to strip with chemicals, it will take its toll on the wood, and sanding is expected. All sanding should be done with an orbital sander with 80 grit paper. Please don't use a belt sander. If sanding off prints, do not over grind as you will create a light spot. The product will cover any slight ink spot left, so don't overdo it.
You may be limited to a similar color if there is any amount of old finish left.

A. NO! Once you've correctly prepped and removed the old finish, all you'll need to do with ours in the future is a good cleaning before reapplication. Any leftover stain will blend right in.

A. Generally 150 SQFT- 200 SQFT per gallon, pending on the porosity of the wood. Remember to thoroughly saturate the wood once till it looks like solid paint after rolling or brushing on it. Be assured it won't look like paint after it dries and cures.

A pole brush works well on cracks if hand brushing. When using a pole roller, do not roll too fast as you will spatter the stain; for that reason, take care of rolling near a wall. Use of a plush ¾ to one-inch roller cover is advised. Purdy makes a Purdy Colossus roller cover that works well. Compact 4 to 6-inch mini rollers and or a wool painter's mitt work well on spindles.

A. At the minimum, you'll want to place sheathing (plastic or tarps under the deck and the surrounding perimeter to protect against any dripping from applying the product. Our stain-sealer does not drip easily, but generously saturating the wood well one time may cause some of it to happen. If spraying, you'll want to tape, clip, and/or staple plastic (1-2 mil ) to cover all walls above and below the deck.

A. Always do the verticals railing/ post first and the horizontals (flats/floor) last.

A. No! This is a one-application product, and you will want to saturate the wood the first and one time fully. Back rolling should leave it wet and looking like a painted surface initially. As the product starts to cure into the wood, it will take on the semi-transparent look it will end up with. On some occasions, if the deck is very porous from age and you observe it looks very dry later in the day, you may have yet to saturate it thoroughly, and a second application will be advised in those areas only. Over-application will cause issues for you, as it will not cure into the wood and lay on top with possible tracking and unevenness resulting. Let it run its course in curing before even considering touching up what you perceive as light areas. Chances are the light areas you think need more product are areas of the wood absorbing at different rates. Knot holes will show drying first. Areas that get an excessive amount of sun will dry first. You may want to apply less product up closer to the house that has been in the shade and may require some wiping if you over-applied. You want to avoid playing whack-a-mole behind your application with a brush constantly touching up. It will end up with a uniform finish once it cures out!

A. Once the sealant is applied to dry wood, it immediately penetrates and will repel water. Rain will only present a problem if it occurs heavily while the sealant has just been applied. As long as the deck has been back-rolled and has 2-3 hours to set up, the following rain should be fine. 

A. Typically, you can carefully walk on it the next day, avoiding damp areas. If any areas are still wet, you should remove any excess product. You should be able to put your furniture back on and walk freely within 48 hours. If applied inside a screened-in porch, give it a 3rd day to be safe. As a precaution, wipe your feet on a mat for the first week before entering the house after walking on deck.

A. The wood needs to be completely dry before application and is best applied between 45 to 95+ degree temps.

A. This is normal. Depending on the age and porosity of your wood, it may have different degrees of sealant retention. The older the deck, the more sealant it will retain., thus the deeper tone. All wood will lighten over the weeks to come. The amount of sun, temperature, and porosity of the wood will be the prominent factor determining how quickly it will lighten. Uneven curing patterns will disappear over the next 30 to 60 days. At the end of the curing process, you will see a completely uniform finish that will enhance and accentuate the wood's natural grain.

A. This product is actually easy to work with! A. When you apply, you can always finish the board to the end. Apply one liberal, generous coat of product, soaking the wood well to where it looks almost like solid paint initially. It is very important to back roll or brush after applying the one and only coat. This product is meant to penetrate the wood, not lay on top, so don't over-apply. When doing the floor last, you'll need to cut in along walls with a brush first.

When applying to the flats of the deck, it's best to come back after several hours of letting it set up, soak into the wood, and then give it a final back-roll that eliminates any footprints you may have left walking on after putting it down. The product does not dry instantly and is very forgiving. You'll have ample time (8-12 hours) to work with it before the final back roll. The product won't drip easily but can if applied a bit heavy, so you should use plastic sheathing to cover areas under and around the deck or stonework on home. If doing an enclosed or covered area, it might be wise to add a 1/5 of mineral spirits as the pores of the wood will be tighter, and the mineral spirits make it easier to penetrate. You'll definitely want to wipe any excess or wetness off the floor if it's still wet the next day.

*Our stain sealers are penetrating oil finishes. They can not perform effectively on a prior applied impermeable sheened finish created from linseed oil,  glycol base, and or an acrylic stain sealer.

It should be removed via stripping or sanding to apply our Sundance Wood Stain Sealers!